Published May 20, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online. Lyrics provided for educational purposes to support French language learning. All rights belong to the original copyright holders.
Et pourtant (1963) by Charles Aznavour is an emotional French chanson about a man trying to convince himself that he will one day leave the woman he loves. Throughout the song, Aznavour imagines a future where he finally escapes the pain of the relationship, forgets his lover, and regains his happiness and peace of mind. Yet despite dreaming of freedom from her emotional coldness and cruelty, he still deeply loves her and cannot let her go.
The lyrics are filled with clear examples of the simple future tense, making this an excellent song for A2-B1 French learners who want to study natural future-tense constructions in the context of French song lyrics.
🎙️ Listen to the song
📘 Meaning in French
✏️ Lyrics and notes
🎙️ Listen to “Et pourtant” by Charles Aznavour
Listen to Et pourtant and see how much of the French lyrics you can understand before reading the translation and notes below.
📘 Et pourtant meaning
The expression et pourtant means “and yet” and it captures the central contradiction of the song. Even though the singer dreams of freeing himself from his lover’s emotional coldness and cruelty, he repeatedly admits: “Pourtant, je n’aime que toi” (“And yet, I love only you”).
✏️ Et pourtant lyrics and grammar notes
This section explains useful French vocabulary, expressions, and grammar from “Et pourtant” to help you better understand the song’s emotional lyrics and its many examples of the simple future tense.
🎼 Song Title
Et pourtant → literal translation: And yet / Nevertheless / Even so
- Et means “and”
- Pourtant means “however”, “yet”, or “nevertheless”
- Together, et pourtant expresses emotional contradiction
- The title reflects the singer trying to leave someone while still loving them deeply
🧩 Sentence Structures & Grammar
Un beau matin, je sais que je m’éveillerai
👉 “One beautiful morning, I know that I will wake up”
- Un beau matin means “one fine morning”
- Je sais que means “I know that”; See: savoir (to know)
- Je m’éveillerai = s’éveiller (to awaken) in the simple future tense
- S’éveiller sounds more poetic than se réveiller (to wake up)
Différemment de tous les autres jours
👉 “Differently from all the other days”
- Différemment means “differently”
- Tous les autres jours means “all the other days”
- The phrase suggests emotional change and renewal
Et mon cœur délivré enfin de notre amour
👉 “And my heart finally freed from our love”
- Le cœur = heart
- Délivré means “freed”
- Enfin means “finally”
- Notre amour means “our love”
- The line expresses emotional liberation
Et pourtant.. Et pourtant..
👉 “And yet… And yet…”
- Pourtant introduces contradiction
- Repetition increases emotional tension
Sans un remords, sans un regret, je partirai
👉 “Without remorse, without regret, I will leave”
- Sans means “without”
- Un remords = remorse
- Un regret = regret
- Je partirai = partir (to leave) in the simple future tense
Loin devant moi, sans espoir de retour
👉 “Far ahead of me, without hope of return”
- Loin means “far away”
- Espoir de retour means “hope of returning”
- The line suggests permanent separation
Loin des yeux, loin du cœur
👉 “Out of sight, out of mind”
- Common French expression
- Le cœur means “the heart”
- The expression suggests distance weakens love
J’oublierai pour toujours
👉 “I will forget forever”
- J’oublierai = oublier (to forget) in the simple future tense
- Pour toujours means “forever”
Et ton corps, et tes bras, et ta voix / Mon amour
👉 “And your body, and your arms, and your voice / My love”
- Repetition of et creates poetic rhythm
- Mon amour is a term of affection
Pourtant, je n’aime que toi
👉 “And yet, I love only you”
- Ne… que means “only”
- Je n’aime que toi literally means “I love nobody but you”
- This line expresses the song’s emotional contradiction
J’arracherai, sans une larme, sans un cri
👉 “I will tear away, without a tear, without a cry”
- J’arracherai = arracher (to tear away) in the simple future tense
- Une larme means “a tear”
- Un cri means “a scream” or “cry”
Les liens secrets qui déchirent ma peau
👉 “The secret bonds that tear my skin”
- Les liens means “ties” or “bonds”
- Déchirent = déchirer (to tear) in the present tense
- Strong poetic imagery expressing emotional pain
Me libérant de toi pour trouver le repos
👉 “Freeing myself from you to find peace”
- Me libérant is a present participle construction
- Le repos means “rest” or “peace”
- Present participles create literary flow
Je marcherai vers d’autres cieux, d’autres pays
👉 “I will walk toward other skies, other countries”
- Je marcherai = marcher (to walk) in the future simple tense
- Le pays = country
- Les cieux is the literary plural of le ciel
- The line evokes escape and wandering
En oubliant ta cruelle froideur
👉 “While forgetting your cruel coldness”
- En oubliant means “while forgetting”
- La froideur means “coldness” or emotional distance
Les mains pleines d’amour
👉 “Hands full of love”
- Plein de means “full of”
- The phrase suggests generosity and openness
J’offrirai au bonheur
👉 “I will offer to happiness”
- J’offrirai = offrir (to offer) in the futur simple tense
- Le bonheur means “happiness”
Et les jours, et les nuits, et la vie / De mon cœur
👉 “And the days, and the nights, and the life / Of my heart”
- Repetition of et creates emotional buildup
- La vie = life
- Poetic phrasing throughout
Il faudra bien que je retrouve ma raison
👉 “I will eventually have to regain my reason”
- Il faudra = Il faut (it’s necessary to) in the simple future tense
- Retrouve is in the subjunctive mood
- La raison means “reason” or “sanity”
Mon insouciance, et mes élans de joie
👉 “My carefree spirit, and my bursts of joy”
- L’insouciance means carefree attitude
- Les élans de joie means bursts of joy
Que je parte à jamais pour échapper à toi
👉 “That I leave forever to escape from you”
- À jamais means “forever”
- Échapper à means “to escape from”
Dans d’autres bras, quand j’oublierai jusqu’à ton nom
👉 “In other arms, when I forget even your name”
- Jusqu’à means “even”
- Ton nom means “your name”
- The phrase emphasizes emotional detachment
Quand je pourrai repenser l’avenir
👉 “When I will be able to think about the future again”
- Je pourrai = pouvoir (can, to be able to) in the simple future tense
- Repenser means “to rethink”
Tu deviendras pour moi / Qu’un lointain souvenir
👉 “You will become for me / Only a distant memory”
- Deviendras = devenir (to become) in the simple future tense
- Un lointain souvenir means “a distant memory”
- See: souvenir (memory)
Quand mon mal, et ma peur et mes pleurs / Vont finir
👉 “When my pain, and my fear and my tears / Will end”
- Le mal means pain or suffering
- Les pleurs means tears or crying
- Vont finir uses the near future tense
Pourtant, pourtant, je n’aime que toi
👉 “And yet, and yet, I love only you”
- Repetition increases emotional intensity
- Ne… que continues the idea of exclusive love
🔤 Verb Forms & Tenses
- Simple future: m’éveillerai, partirai, oublierai, arracherai, marcherai, offrirai, pourrai, deviendras
- Present tense: sais, déchirent, aime
- Subjunctive: retrouve, parte
- Present participles: libérant, oubliant
- Near future: vont finir
- Key infinitives: s’éveiller, partir, oublier, arracher, déchirer, offrir, retrouver, échapper
💬 Idioms & Natural Expressions
- loin des yeux, loin du coeur → out of sight, out of mind
- sans un remords → without remorse
- sans un regret → without regret
- à jamais → forever
- plein de → full of
- échapper à quelqu’un → to escape from somebody
- un lointain souvenir → a distant memory
- retrouver sa raison → to regain one’s senses
📘 Vocabulary
- un matin — morning
- le cœur — heart
- l’amour — love
- un remords — remorse
- un regret — regret
- l’espoir — hope
- le retour — return
- le corps — body
- les bras — arms
- une larme — tear
- un cri — cry, scream
- les liens — ties, bonds
- la peau — skin
- le repos — rest, peace
- les cieux — skies, heavens
- la froideur — coldness
- les mains — hands
- le bonheur — happiness
- la raison — reason
- l’insouciance — carefree attitude
- les élans — surges, bursts
- un souvenir — memory
- le mal — pain
- la peur — fear
- les pleurs — tears
🎶 Take your learning to the next level!
FrenchLearner offers one of the largest collections of French song lessons online. Visit the French song lyrics hub to explore classics from the 1950s to the 2000s.
🎵 More Charles Aznavour songs you’ll love
👉 La bohème »
👉 Hier encore »
👉 Emmenez-moi »
👉 La mamma »
🇫🇷 More French classic songs you’ll love
👉 La vie en rose (Édith Piaf) »
👉 Non, je ne regrette rien (Édith Piaf) »
👉 Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel) »
👉 La mer (Charles Trenet) »
About this lesson: I create these song-based lessons to help French learners improve vocabulary, grammar, and cultural understanding in a fun, engaging way. Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes under fair use. All rights to the original works belong to their respective copyright holders.
